“Whenever it’s our Yale game, we get more fans that come out just because of the long history of the rivalry,” women’s volleyball co-captain Caroline Holte said. “That makes the game that much more exciting to play in.”

The unusually large crowds of fans help to make games against Yale notably electrifying, but traditions within Harvard teams may do even more to build excitement for contests against the Bulldogs.

Building on the buzz of playing in front of a full house, veteran Crimson players often fan the flames of the rivalry to ensure that younger players compete especially fiercely against Yale.

“My freshman year, I was immediately brainwashed into hating Yale,” Holte said. “Right at the beginning of the preseason, we were told that Yale is our enemy. It’s sort of just ingrained in you, and you don’t really know why, but they’re always your enemy.”

The practice of portraying Yale as a primary enemy to new players is common among Harvard teams. Casting the Bulldogs as hated opponents is useful as motivation during hard training and can create a common purpose for a squad.

This habit of building up antagonism towards Yale among freshmen players helps to explain the notable fierceness of a rivalry that has endured for more than a century and a half.

Although the Harvard rowers from 1852 would not even recognize many of the sports in which the Crimson and the Bulldogs compete today, they would likely find that they share something with their modern counterparts—an overwhelming desire to defeat Yale.

“When you step on the court against Yale, there’s a feeling that you want to beat them more than anyone else, purely because of the fact that they’re Yale,” Holte said. “This is a long-lasting rivalry, and it’s something that we take really seriously. Any time we can take them down, it’s just immediately sweeter.”

Staff Writer Sam O. M. Christenfeld can be reached at schristenfeld@college.harvard.edu